Three mature burr oak trees were cut down Thursday in the area next to the Communications Building in preparation for its use by the ISU marching band.

The trees were cut down to prepare the area for grading, which will start in April, said Cathy Brown, campus planner for facilities planning and management. Brown said the decision to fell the trees came out of the need for the marching band to have a temporary place to practice for next fall’s football season while the new biorenewables building is being built.

Brown said the site next to the Communications Building was chosen because there were only three trees standing in the location, and the dimensions of a marching band’s needs – the size of a football field – took precedent.

Brown said age or date testing was not done on the trees because of the older trees next to the area, but the site is the “best alternative to the one next to the College of Design Building.”

“There [were] three mature burr oak trees in that area,” Brown said. “[But] there are other trees in the vicinity that are older.”

The timber will be used for a furniture design class, Brown said, not unlike the fallen trees from a tornado that touched down on campus in 2005 which were used to make a wooden podium and benches in Morrill Hall.

“We intend to re-use the wood for that purpose,” Brown said. “We are planning to take the lumber, dry it and give it to the College of Design courses that use lumber.”

When Deb Cooper, graduate student in landscape architecture, found out the trees were slated to be felled, she said she tried to get in contact with Brown in hopes of dissuading her from cutting the trees down. Cooper said she could not reach Brown by the time of the Thursday deadline. The trees were valuable for many reasons, such as the genetic material they hold and their age, as well as for aesthetic and educational purposes, Cooper said.

“I am disappointed that they were cut down, saddened really. These trees were ancient,” Cooper said. “The fact that they are going to be turned into furniture is irrelevant. It is ironic that the university is putting up a biorenewables building but cutting down these magnificent trees that stand in the way of re-grading a temporary home for the marching band practice field.”

Cooper said she believes the decision to cut down the trees was done “under the radar,” as she could not find anyone who knew about it. She said the faculty and students were not informed of the decision to cut down the trees.

“No one knew about it,” she said. “They must have been keeping it quiet on the way out.”

Brown said faculty members, including those with interests in “plant material and outdoor environment,” were notified of the removal in the fall.

Janette Thompson, associate professor of natural resource ecology and management, said the decision to cut the trees down came to the attention of the Outdoor Teaching Labs Committee last fall. The Graduate and Professional Student Senate was made aware of the plan by a graduate student on the committee, she said, and it was presented by FPM as a “done deal.”

Thompson said a “cursory count” of the rings on the timber revealed the three oak trees were “at least 120 years old.”

“It appears that the immediate removal of the trees for the band was pragmatic,” she said. “But any time you have plant material that is mature and has aesthetic value, removal is always a disappointment.”

Thompson said that in the future, a policy change for management plans such as this would possibly alleviate problems certain people might have.

Jesse Randall, assistant professor of natural resource ecology and management, said he was not made aware of the tree removal at any time, but that the trees on campus represent a “public good” and some people may value trees as much as humans. He said the fact that the trees are being used for furniture is a part of the material value of timber.

“If the trees had to come down, I’m glad they didn’t go to waste,” he said. “If this is purely for a temporary place for the marching band to practice, I’m sure they could have found another place.”

Cooper said there are many places on campus the band could practice without the removal of trees, and “the music department suggested and preferred Central Campus,” but the “noise” was a factor.

“The idea of selecting this site as a temporary home for the marching band practice field seems short-sighted,” she said. “The Hilton Coliseum parking lot is another wide open space and these trees would not have been lost.”

Brown said the site was selected in good faith and as a practical solution to the problem of size the marching band has. She said she sympathizes with those who want trees on campus.

“I am sympathetic with those who have concerns of the removal of trees,” she said. “It is with regret that we have to do this, but the institution keeps expanding and growing.”